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Finished El Shaddai (PS3). The most extreme example of style over substance I've ever seen, although the gameplay wasn't bad at all. In the later chapters I struggled more with the awkward platforming and sabotaging camera movements than with the combat. That said, it would have been nice if a tenth of the creativity that went into the visual aesthetics had been applied to combat. Just making the enemies deal more damage, have more health, and be more unstunnable as the game went on didn't add anything for me. It made the later fights longer, but not really harder and certainly not more interesting.

Also, pretty extreme example of a game being weird and vague for the sake of being weird and vague. I would have enjoyed the game more if the story and mechanics had been explained better. Or at all.

Completed Inazuma Eleven 2 Blizzard (DS), it's pretty much like the first but with an even crazier storyline. Full review coming in the next few days. It's a bit odd that you don't play the version-speicifc team in the story itself despite obvious opportunities for it to happen.

Its about time I reported in with Tales of Graces F (PS3). Finished the main game a little over a week ago, and Lineage and Legacies several days after that. With it ends one of the best stretches of gaming I can remember having.

In the end, I think it ranks in just behind Vesperia and Eternia as my third favorite Tales game. Easily the best gameplay in the series. However, I can't help but feel something was missing because I wasn't as enchanted with the world or story this time around. Had a great time with it though, and its a front runner for my GOTY.

Finally wrapped up Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360). As I suspected, internet whiners are just that, internet whiners. Nothing wrong with the ending. The last-minute choice thing was a touch on the lame side and brought back memories of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but apart from that, it was a solid end to the series. They could have just as easily NOT given you the choice and just

Spoiler:

had the crucible do one thing and one thing only. After all, we had no idea what it was supposed to do, it was just blind faith.

That might have been better, actually. But if it was just details people wanted, then they're just plain stupid. Most of the best endings in history leave things open, make you wonder what happens next. Too much information is less satisfying and far less memorable. I'm a bit disappointed that BioWare caved to fan pressure in the end. Personally, I won't be touching that DLC.

Finished up Dungeon Defenders on PC. It was OK, the multi-player was fun, but ended up finishing some maps single player since I couldn't find an MP game. Single player is boring as Sam said during her review, but multi-player is good times.

Probably the best of the PS2 DBZ fighters, since things began to become a bit silly when the series changed into Budokai Tenkaichi and got 100+ characters. Have not unlocked Saibamen or Cell Jr. and half of the abilities/items, but I have just about everything else...

4/15/2012 - Resistance 3 (PS3). Normal difficulty. Interesting game, carrying on the atmospheric chaos of the previous games. Health packs make turtling the primary strategy for many an encounter, but the game doesn't drag as much as some old-school shooters do, and I rarely felt check-pointed into a corner. Overall an enjoyable experience.

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]"What the f--- is a Shakespeare?"
-Rico Valasquez, showing off why no one likes him.

4/15/2012 - Resistance 3 (PS3). Normal difficulty. Interesting game, carrying on the atmospheric chaos of the previous games. Health packs make turtling the primary strategy for many an encounter, but the game doesn't drag as much as some old-school shooters do, and I rarely felt check-pointed into a corner. Overall an enjoyable experience.

Good to know, I'll have to pick this up soon. Enjoyed the first one and parts of 2 were ok, but 2 mostly went off the rails.

Not positive this counts, but Mario Party 9 (Wii) is done. Played through all the stages at least once on multi-player and begrudgingly completed the Solo mode.

Not bad for a casual rental. It was fun and just different enough from the previous Mario Parties to feel fresh. The new mini star system and stage mechanics that take half of the mini stars make the game even more luck based than it used to be, if thats possible. The fact that a typical match goes by much quicker than the other games in the series (under an hour) is a huge plus if you ask me.

After several years of delaying, I finally played Steambot Chronicles (PS2). I was disappointed in the whole "non-linear RPG" thing I had heard was the game's strength. I wasn't expecting Skyrim, but I thought it would be a little more interesting, and many other Japanese games have done openness and non-linearity much better. On the other hand, while the controls were just as terrible as I had heard, I got used to them eventually and didn't think they detracted from the game too much.

Still, the most boring, vague, aimless plot I've yawned through in a long time hit me with an ending I adored. Possibly my favorite plot twist with 10 seconds left in a game ever! I probably ended with

Spoiler:

the most evil ending possible, as Savory's slave after siding with the Bloody Mantis,

but I loved sticking it to Connie every chance I had. I hated her blandness and loved that Steambot let me cast her aside over and over. Take that, uninteresting generic female JRPG love interest!

So, lots of point-and-click adventures, apparently. RPGs just take so much time to complete! Even Mass Effect 2 was a spill-over from last year...

I do recommend Defender's Quest - it's an indie tower defense game with RPG elements and a surprisingly decent story. Actually, I enjoyed every one of the games on this list - I just don't have enough time anymore to finish games I don't like.

Finished up with Final Fantasy V (PSX) finally. I don't know why it took me so many years to get back to this one, but despite the death of my original Playstation, I can finally cross it off the list. I really enjoyed this one, both for the story and the job system. Blue magic was definitely my friend in this one, which really surprised me. I guess I'll move on to FFVI sooner or later, but for now, I think I'll work on some Xenoblade and Mass Effect 3 (multiplayer and second runthrough). Oh, and Septerra Core next month.